Hollow Children
Hollow Children are a series of highly advanced robots that appear in the video game Binary Domain. Developed by the Amada Corporation, they are designed to perfectly mimic human beings, even to the point where they believe that they are human. History The Hollow Children were advanced robots that were produced in the mid-21st century as a result of the recent developments of robotics that produced labourers to create larger structures in the cities to escape rising sea levels. These new machines were the products of Yohji Amada's scientific developments alongside his Japanese company known as Amada Corporation. However, the activities of Alexander Bergen led to the technology being spread around the world and similar machines being produced by the American company Bergen Advanced Robotics Technology. This led to Amada taking legal action against Bergen for stealing the technology which was a case that failed and instead his corporation was forced to pay compensation to Bergen. At the same time, the rising developments in robotics led to a curtail in research that was made in 2040 with the signing of the New Geneva Convention that prevented the production of machines that resembled or acted like human beings. In this time, a frustrated Amada decided to take part in secret illegal research that constrained the Convention in order to create a new breakthrough and expose Bergen as a thief. He secretly began work on an artificial intelligence and attempted to instil it with true sentience by exposing it to pain and fear as well as other emotions so that it would evolve. The AI ultimately developed sentience but feared its exposure would lead to its destruction by the International Robotics Technology Association. Thus, it killed its creator and assumed his guise whilst running the Amada Corporation. This AI's developments led it to secretly progress its research program in robotics where it attempted to gain true life by evolving the capacity to reproduce. The Amada AI managed to produce advanced robotics that was fifty years ahead of that of the rest of the world. In that time, it produced what became known as the Hollow Children: robots that were perfect replicas of human beings, so much so that some were even programmed to the point that they did not know that they were machines. These advanced robots were even capable of bearing offspring from a human being that in turn became a hybrid of human and machine. These hybrids were completely undetectable by technological means and were superior as they had perfect health, longer lives and better capabilities compared to humans. The Amada AI intended to create many hybrids to the point that they would replace mankind and gain wide acceptance. Some hybrid offspring were born within China and were completely unaware of their true origins. The existence of the Hollow Children remained unknown until 2080 where at least 150 hybrids had been born with some having reached adulthood. At this time, one of the American deployed Hollow Children uncovered its origin and believed that Alexander Bergen was responsible for its creation. Thus, he attacked the Detroit branch to assault Bergen himself at his company where it peeled away its skin revealing its metallic skull as well as killed itself. Afterwards, a United States General at the Pentagon was revealed to be a Hollow Child and was killed by the American President's bodyguards. These actions saw a Rust Crew being deployed from Geneva to Japan in order to apprehend Yohji Amada for suspected violation of Clause 21. Overview Physically, the Hollow Children were externally indistinguishable from an ordinary human being. This was achieved by sheathing them in a skin of living cells that was an act considered illegal under the New Geneva Convention. As a result, there was some who wondered where the machine ended and where life began. Their sophisticated nature meant that female Hollow Children were even capable of being impregnated by human males and bearing hybrid offspring whose true nature was completely undetectable by technological means. The hybrids were superior in terms of health, being resistant to disease, possessed superior strength and had no apparent technological components. The AI itself of a Hollow Child was extremely advanced and far beyond than that which was achievable by Bergen Technologies to the point that they were barely able to study its neural structure. The state of programming that a Hollow Child actually believed that they were genuine human beings. Some such as Alexander Bergen did not believe the Hollow Children were classed as life and that, despite its complexity, they were simply robots. Trivia * The concept of machines reproducing and bearing hybrid offspring is similar to the Cylons in the reboot Battlestar Galactica series. Category:Video Game Robots Category:Artificial Intelligence Category:Sentient Robots Category:Androids Category:Binary Domain